NATO Strategic Concept Workshop held on 15-16 Oct

The Department of Political and Strategic Studies of the BALTDEFCOL initiated a workshop designed to generate intra-Baltic discussion at the level of policy and desk officers from the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence of the three Baltic States. As this is the first time that the Baltic States participate to on-going consultations for the formulation of a new Strategic Concept, such activities are essential for a College such as the BALTDEFCOL. BGen Gundars Abols took this opportunity to decorate Professor Zaneta Ozolina. The BALTDEFCOL also strengthened its relationship with the Finnish National Defence University by welcoming, for the first time, Dr. Agilolf Kesselring as panelist.

Of note, the Strategic Concept Workshop welcomed the Minister of Defence of Latvia, Mr. Imants Liegis, who addressed the panels and the audience, stressing the importance of a “readable” Strategic Concept which was useful to make NATO’s presence manifest in the lives of Baltic constituents. The value of the document itself as an instrument to establish “responsibility, reassurance, resilience and re-engagement” among the members and between the Alliance and its partners was stressed in the discussions that took place 15 and 16 October 2009.

The timeliness of the Strategic Concept Workshop is evident by its simultaneity with the formal consultations on the new NATO Strategic Concept taking place in Luxembourg on the same day. Academic workshops are the initiative of the new Dean, Dr. James Corum, and the success of this Strategic Concept Workshop can clearly be attributed to Mr. Didzis Nimants. Further such workshops will be organized in the future on different topics of interest to the Baltic States and the region at large, contributing to the renown of the BALTDEFCOL, and also supporting other courses such as the Higher Command Studies Course and the new Master’s program that was created by the Dean and the Department of Political and Strategic Studies.